Stopping the supply of drug in Afghanistan

Writing to compare

We had read two poems in class, called ‘Vitai lampada’ by Sir Henry Newbolt and ‘Who’s for the game’ by Jesse pope. Both of the poems are written quite similarly. I would like to compare these two poems by focusing on the subject, purpose, tone, style, use of language and the effectiveness. By comparing you can see interesting similarities and differences between them.

Firstly the subject of both of the poems is the same. Both of the poems are written about the war although they are both written about different wars which took place at different times. ‘Who’s for the game’ is written about the First World War and ‘Vitai lampada’ is about a war which took place at the end of the 19th century. Both of these poems are written in a way that portrays the war as game.

The second area to compare is the purposes of the poems which are in some ways different because ‘Who’s for the game?’ is written to persuade men to go to the war and it has a way of encouraging the men to go and fight in the war for example when it says ‘Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid? And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?’ by reading this sentence if someone was not involved in the war they would feel ashamed of themselves. ‘Vitai lampada’ is describing what it was like in the war and what it looked like in the eyes of a soldier, and shows that the soldiers were very brave and loyal for example when it says ‘And it is not for the sake of a ribboned coat, or the selfish hope of a season’s fame, but him Captain’s hand on his shoulder smote.’ This shows that the soldiers really only needed the trust of their Captain.

Another topic to compare is the tone in which the poems are written. ‘Who’s for the game?’ sounds very exciting and encouraging. ‘Vitai lampada’ sounds adventurous and quite exciting but in a mysterious way for example, ‘There’s a breathless hush in the Close to-night.’ This sentence makes the reader curious and right away gives you a good image of the time of the day that the ‘war’ is taking place. The tone of both poems is different because of the different purposes of the two poems.

Another area worth considering is the style in which the poems are written of the poems. Both of the poems are written in verses and rhyme. Although ‘who’s for the game?’ has a question in almost each verse as it does in the title itself but ‘vitai lampada’ is much more descriptive and is structured a little differently. As in ‘Vitai lampada’ the beat goes a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d, on the other hand ‘Who’s for the game’ the beat is only a,b,a,b, it looks like this beat has been used because of the language being used.

Yet another area to compare is the use of language. In ‘Who’s for the game’ no imagery or descriptive writing has been used. It is not telling you anything about the war either. The language used is almost similar to mocking the reader for example, ‘who would much rather come back with a crutch than lie low and be out of the fun?’ No similes or metaphors are used as it is not that type of poem. Although in ‘Vitai lampada’ which as mentioned before is very descriptive, there are also quite a lot of metaphors and similes used which gives a clearer image for example ‘The sand of the desert is sodden red’ this sentence may be suggesting that there was blood on the ground of the desert.

Finally the area to compare is the effectiveness of the two poems on the reader. The poems achieve its purposes quite well. 'who’s for the game' is very persuasive, in the matter of sending the men to war and because of the language used if they would not go it would make them look like a coward.’Vitai lampada’ proves to the reader that the soldiers were very brave and that the war was very similar to playing any other game such as cricket. For example ‘Ten to make and the match to win, A bumping pitch and a blinding light, an hour to play and the last man in.’ after reading this, if the reader did not know it was about the war, they would think the poem was about some game being played.

To conclude, after comparing the subject, purpose, tone, style, use of language and the effectiveness of the two poems you can see that the poems are written in quite different ways. Although the subject of both of the poems was the same because of the different purposes the style in which the poems were written was bound to have many differences.

Macbeth's diary

The last time I wrote in this diary I was just about to set off to battle with the rebels Macdonwald and Norway. A lot has happened since then.
I had to set off to battle with Macdonwald and Norway, Malcolm and the captain were there. Surprisingly I had defeated the rebellion of Highlanders and Islanders, led by Macdonwald. Not long after the battle was over Sweno, the king of Norway began an attack on the very tired Scottish. After their defeat the captain was badly wounded and had collapsed on the battlefield so he was taken away for treatment. Just when the captain was taken away to surgeons, something to my surprise occurred. Ross and Angus arrived with news much unexpected. They had defeated the Norwegians, so victory was once again in our hands; however along with that Duncan pronounced the death sentence on the thane of Cawdor and said I shall now have that title.

I was curios to know more so we set off to the three witches. As we arrived all three witches greeted me differently; ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ ‘Thane of Glamis’ and ‘That shalt be king hereafter.’ They told us their prediction; they said I will be king. However there were some things that were still unclear to me, I knew that I was Thane of Glamis although I did not understand how I was Thane of Cawdor. I asked them this and as soon as I did that, they vanished into thin air as breath into the wind. Angus and Ross arrived again bringing along with them news so shocking, they told me that I was now the king of Cawdor. Hearing this I was unbelievably shocked and started to consider if their first prediction came true what would happen if their third prediction came true as well however at that moment I decided to let future to take care of itself.

After learning about the witches’ predictions and maybe expecting me to become king I sent a letter to my wife telling her everything. I realised that chance will never make me king, and if I wanted this I had to do something about it. I had spoken to my wife about it, and she told me I could become king but the only way I could do that was if I killed Duncan. I was astonished after hearing this from her, I think very highly of my king, and I did not want to even think about killing him. Duncan has always been very grateful for everything I have done; I have gotten lots of rewards by him and think he is a great person; he has never caused any harm to anyone. I could not understand how I could do such a thing. On the other hand I could not disappoint my wife, she wants to be queen and she wants me to become king. I do not know how I will ever get over what I might be going to do in the future.

Despite my thoughts about Duncan I have finally decided that I will do what my wife wishes for, I shall murder the king. However I am still afraid of how I will do it. What if anybody will find out about who did the murder, what will people think of me. I will never be able to forgive myself especially if anything goes wrong and I do a dirty deed and never be successful in what I am doing this for. Although I know this is the right thing to do, there is no other way I can fulfil mine and my wife’s hopes, no matter to what extent I will have to go, I must. Even though I fear for the future that awaits me after the murder of Duncan, by my own hand.